


The red stained snow

by Katella



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Character Death, Drama, F/F, F/M, Lots of pairings, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-07-19 05:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7346545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katella/pseuds/Katella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Alfred Throws a valentine's day party with a few of his friends, Who knew that someone wouldn't get out alive? They must all deal with the guilt and blame while trying to figure what really happened. All the while, Ivan is planning something that might have to do with it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

As Gilbert held his ground and bit back tears, he Thought about has brought him to this point in his life.

It was a normal February afternoon when it all started. Who knew in that in a few months that Gilbert would be corned by someone he once considered a friend, hoping for mercy.

It started with an invitation.

"Hey Gil, I am totally hosting a sick Valentine day party tomorrow night and you are invited!" Alfred said with much enthusiasm As he rushed over to Gilbert in the middle of the coffee shop. Of course he was, he always threw awesome parties.

"Kesese! Of course you are, You throw parties for Everything. So Where is it gonna be at this time? The club? Your family's estate?"

Ever since Alfred's recent birthday party, Gilbert was Dying to Have another smash at the Kirkland estate. Not that it would probably happen. Alfred's mother threw a fit when she saw the state of her multi million dollar home looking like a tornado hit it. He heard it took weeks to get some of the pizza off the ceiling.

At this question, Alfred looked down sheepishly as he said,"No..it's going to be at my family's cabin up in the woods. Also, I thought it would be...best to keep the party small."

This surprised Gilbert. Since when did Alfred Wanted to keep a party small?

"Uh dude? is there a reason who-" At This A thought hit Gilbert and he stopped talking to grin ear to ear. "Are you finally going ask Kiku Out at the Valentine day party?"

At this Alfred flushed red as a tomato before Nodding his head quietly. "Something like that."

Gilbert laughed as he threw his arm around Alfred's shoulder. "I knew you would eventually. I could Feel the sexual tension around you guys. I can't wait to tell west about this juicy piece of gossip!"

At this, Alfred Jumped back and started blubbering out."Nonono! You can't tell anyone!" He appeared to begin having a near panic attack.

Gilbert looked a bit annoyed but reluctantly he sighed and said,"Fine, my lips are sealed. I won't tell a soul." He continued to mutter about not being able to tell people anything.

Alfred Let out a sigh of relief before continuing,"Anyway everyone who is going is; Me, Ludwig, Feliciano, Lovino, Antonio, Elizabeta, Kiku, and Even Mathias is coming home for a few days and he agreed to come."

Gilbert was surprised that Ludwig agreed to come, but he dismissed that. He's probably going to make sure nothing happens to feliciano, His boyfriend of two years.

What really surprised Gilbert was that Mathias was coming.

"OH MY GOD! Are you serious?!" Gilbert said this with more energy then he was planning to, but oh well.

Mathias was currently studying abroad and rarely gets to come visit back home.

"Oh yeah, Get ready for the Party of the century right here!" Alfred said this with laugh before Gilbert joined him in his joyed laughter.

But suddenly Gilbert realized something and he quite laughing.

"Wait. When did Elizabeta find out about the party? She never mentioned it to me."

"PFfft. Probably because I just asked her about it before a met you here. I was going ask you first, but i ran into her on her way to work. So yeah."

Oh that's right. Liz Had work today.

Elizabeta Hedervary worked for the police department. She was low ranking cop, but she took pride in her job and was pretty good at it.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. She's helping Roderich with that case one case I don't remember anything about." Gilbert said this with a laugh. He could hardly keep with the crazy police work his girlfriend was always working on.

"So? Are you going come?" Alfred asked as if he didn't already know the answer.

"Are you kidding? Man, Of course I'm coming! If Mathias is coming and Elizabeta already decided she wants to go, Then hell yeah."

Else where, In a Office Building downtown, Alice Kirkland was meeting with Her business

Rival to discuss who the hell knows what.

"Just cut to the chase Ivan! I don't have bloody time for your games." Alice said, at the end of her wit.

"Calm down Kirkland. I wanted to meet you here to discuss many things. First of them does not involve business, but is rather personal."

Alice rolled her eyes. Business rivals didn't fit them. More like life long enemies. Its stop being 'just business' a long time ago.

Ivan ignored this and continued,"You know as well I do, Something happened between us 20 years ago.'

Alice cut him off," Where the hell are you going with this?"

"I want you to do a d.n.a test for your son, Alfred."

Alice's face flushed red first with surprise, then with anger.

"You idiot! What even makes you begin to think Alfred isn't Francis son, But rather yours? What an ego. It was one bloody time!"

Ivan, obviously getting frustrated raised his voice slightly, his Russian accent becoming even more apparent,"WE HAD SEX ALICE! THAT'S HOW BABIES HAPPEN!"

Alice, with tears beginning to form in her eyes, said,"And what Alfred is your son? What am I suppose to do then? Tell Alfred that his father isn't his father? Tell my husband I cheated on him? With you no less."

Ivan lowered his voice and said,"When I first heard that you where pregnant, I dismissed the idea it could be my child. But everyday now, I see more and more of my self in your son. You can't deny the possibility, da?"

"DON'T YOU EVER COMPARE YOURSELF TO MY SON!" Alice said, body shaking with rage. She took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing,"What happened between us was a mistake. My son is NOT the result of such a mistake."

"I see that i can't convince you other wise, But i hope you will change your mind soon, Da?" Ivan said this in unsurprisingly menacing way.

When Alice turned to glare, he continued with a chuckle,"And anyway, that's not the only reason i asked for you to meet me. I have a business proposal. It will help put an end to our feuding companies. Maybe our families will also start getting along."

"What is already." Alice said, Cutting to the chase.

"We Merge our companies into a single joint company, Co-run by By the both of us. It will make us allies, rather then rivals and will benefit both of us."

What the bloody hell kind of scheme was he trying to pull now?

"No. I know how your mind works, this is just another ploy to try and take control of my company. I am not falling for it." Alice said this with a voice a finality to it.

"That is too bad. I was hoping you would agree to it, But oh well." Ivan said in strangely calm tone.

"I know that voice, What the hell are you planning Ivan?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that i find that you will soon be agreeing to my plans one way or another." Ivan said this with a creepy grin that and an expression that said he would tell no more on the matter.

Alice, Finally at on her last nerve, said,"Get the hell out of my office, Ivan."

Ivan quietly nodded in agreement before sliding out her office door.

Alice then set her head on her desk before muttering,"Today already looks like a long day."


	2. Chapter 2

Later that day, Gilbert meet up with Elizabeta at the club, downtown. It was a pretty classy place, considering it was a night club. Probably because it's ran by the Kirkland family.

Gilbert was staring at his glass, bored out of his mind, When Elizabeta came up behind him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and said,"Guess who." But of course he knew, She tried almost everyday to surprise him. She still hadn't.

"I know it's you, Liz." He said, turning around and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

Elizabeta smiled and said,"I'll get you soon enough. Just wait."

"I'm you sure will. Just not today." Gilbert rolled his eyes as he said this, still grinning.

As Elizabeta took a sit beside him, Gilbert said,"Well, apparently we have a party to go to tomorrow night."

"Oh yeah, Alfred's party. I hope it doesn't bug you that it isn't going to be some big thing."

"Oh no, actually you won't believe what Alfred is planning." Gilbert said this, forgetting his promise earlier to keep his mouth shut.

"What? What is it?" Elizabeta said, letting her curious nature get the better of her. She did love gossip.

"Well, actually, Alfred is planning on asking Kiku out at the party. But he told me not to tell anyone, so keep it to yourself." As Gilbert said this, he started to sound like a teen girl.

"Oh, that is interesting. Hey, Why don't you do something like that for me on valentine's day?" Elizabeta said this, Punching Gilbert in the shoulder playfully.

Gilbert chuckled and said,"Oh trust, me. I am planning something tomorrow that will knock your socks off."

When Elizabeta gave him a questioning look, He smirked in a way that told her he wouldn't elaborate further.

Then, before she could question him, He changed the subject to something more mundane.

"So, how was work today? Is Roderich still a pansy?"

"Oh please Gilbert, Highschool is over. Can't you two just get along?" Elizabeta, Roderich, and Gilbert All knew each other since kindergarten. Elizabeta has always been friends with both of them, But they never quite got along

Elizabeta hated getting caught in the middle and was sick of the rivalry between the two of them. What she hated even more was the fact she might have something to do with in the first place. She always knew Roderich may have had a thing for her.

"Pfft, We get along just fine. But he's still a pansy."

Elizabeta just rolled her eyes While Gilbert laughed.

-Else where

Feliciano Vargas was in the kitchen, cleaning up after one of his favourite meals.

People always tend to under appreciate his cooking. He smiled has he thought of this. He didn't care what others thought, Because no matter what, He always had Ludwig to appreciate him.

Ludwig supported him always, 100 percent. He always wondered how he ended up with him. He honestly never himself imagined himself having a future with some like him. They were both so different.

But low and behold, junior year of high school rolled around and the two met in a class on world history. They clicked instantly. Soon they were always together, never leaving each others side. Soon, they did have something in common. They loved each other.

Everyone could even tell they were madly in love. They were two halves of a whole, said by almost the entire student population.

Feilciano sighed sadly as he remembered this. He wished everyone could have been supportive.

Eventually it came time to tell his family, he couldn't put it off any longer. He was worried to say the least. He came from a very religious family.

They were upset, to say the least. Shouting angry words and yelling horrible names was the least of it. His family wanted to know what did this boy do to turn feilciano, they're precious son, Into a homosexual sinner.

He tried to explain that no one made him like this, it was how he always was. He never told them because he brushed off, he never worried about because he liked girls too. He always thought he could sweep it under the rug and only love girls. But there was no hiding it after he met Ludwig.

At first, his family ignored him. Didn't talk to him, avoided him when he was at home. It was weeks before they could even look him in the eyes. after a while though, they started to come to terms with it. Although they refused to believe it was anything more then a phase. On top of that, they could hardly stand Ludwig.

All the while, the only members of his family that truly supported him was his grandfather, who kind of already suspected, and his brother, who didn't have any room to talk. Although his brother never liked Ludwig, It was only because he believed he was annoying bastard who didn't deserve his brother.

If anything, It brought Feliciano and Lovino closer. Later that evening, after feliciano came out to his parents, Lovino came and told him about Antonio, A Charming Spaniard That Lovino met in College.

He worried what his parents would think if they found out he was gay. Even though Lovino would never admit his feelings to Antonio.

After that, Feliciano never told anyone Lovino's secret and Lovino never told when Feliciano went to go see Ludwig, Because even though he didn't like him, He knew Ludwig made his brother happy.

His parents Especially didn't like it when they decided to move in together.

While Feliciano remembered all of this, he thought about how he was going to tell them about the news, While staring down at the silver engagement ring on his finger.

After cleaning up, Feliciano walked into the living room and sat right down next to Ludwig.

Ludwig looked up from his computer and and cracked a smile at the sight of Feliciano.

"So Ludwig, are you sure you want to go to the party Alfred is throwing? I know You don't like parties, vee." Feliciano asked worriedly.

"No, no. It's fine, besides, i think it would be best to share our news then. Better around our friends first. Although i doubt your brother will be very pleased." As Ludwig said this, he grimaced. Lovino didn't exactly like him.

"I believe he'll be happy for us. Well me at least. But i can't wait to tell everyone. Then i can start planning the wedding and choosing the cake and food and i bet my grandpa will be pleases, he likes weddings."

As Feliciano prattled on happily, Ludwig looked down at his ring and thought, 'Ja, this will turn out interestingly.'


	3. 3

Later the next day, Alfred was Preparing for the party

As he was humming to himself while setting out food and drinks, His phoned buzzed.

He quickly picked it up, silently reading the text he got.

As he was reading it, he shook his head in disdain and disappointment.

"God, I can't believe he's telling me this Now. After everything we discussed!" Alfred said this quietly to himself, deleting the text. He couldn't deal with his problems right now, the others would be arriving soon.

At that thought, he heard the first car pull up outside.

He quickly ran to get the door, putting the biggest grin on his face.

As he opened the door, his grin widened when he saw Ludwig and Feliciano standing there.

He quickly grabbed Feliciano in a big bear hug.

"Oh my god feli, I haven't seen you in forever!"

" Ve~It was just a week. And iv'e been busy." Feliciano said this, struggling to catch his breath.

Alfred quickly Put Him down "With what?" He asked curiously.

Feilciano just held his hand up, showing off his ring as an answer.

"Me and Ludwig are getting married!" He added excitingly.

Alfred's face of shock went to one of joy real quick.

"Woh man, That's awesome! Why didn't you guys tell me sooner?"

"Well, actually, You're the first person to find out." Ludwig said, stepping into the conversation.

Alfred nodded thoughtfully at this.

Feliciano continued,

"And i decided i want you to be one of my grooms men. I know it sounds sudden, but we've been friends since freshman year and you always been one of me and Ludwigs biggest supporters~Ve." Feliciano said this with the biggest grin on his face, as if he already made up his mind.

"What!?" Alfred and Ludwig said this in unison.

"Oh but come on? I really don't think he'll feel up too it." Ludwig looked just as surprised as Alfred, because apparently Feliciano just now decided on this.

But Before Feliciano could respond, Alfred said,

"Oh, I would LOVE To be apart of your wedding" Alfred said, whipping away what Feliciano could only assume to be tears of joy.

"Ve~ This is going to be so fun!"

Ludwig just shook his head.

'Mein gott, this isn't going end well at all.'

But At that moment, They were interrupted from a annoyed voice from behind them.

"Now what the hell is going on in here? Are you bastards crying?"

They all looked up to see Lovino vargas standing in the wooden door with his arms crossed, Looking very irritated.

Behind him was Happy-go-lucky Antonio, Looking just as oblivious to Lovino's mood as ever.

Alfred was the first to speak.

"Er, he doesn't know yet, Does he?" Alfred said this timidly, as if Lovino would bite his head off any second.

"Know about what, Cheese burger bastard?"

"I have big news, Fratello!" Feliciano said this happily, totally ignorant to The fact Lovino probably Won't react so well to said news."Me and Ludwig are getting married!"

Lovino's face went From it's normal mildly annoyed expression, To complete and utter shock, To seething and livid anger.

His hands clutched to fist at his sides, His face contorted with anger. He clenched his jaw and just when he opened his mouth to probably scream profanities, Antonio stepped in grabbed his arm.

"it's okay Lovi, Just breath. I think we need to step outside for a second."

Lovino just nodded and Turned half way to follow Antonio, While gritting his teeth.

But before he could take a step in the opposite direction, He turned and opened his mouth again.

But again, he was silenced my Antonio.

"Nope, nope. You will regret anything you say right now Lovi. We are going to take a walk and then you can yell all you want."

Antonio turned to the others and said,"We'll be back in a minute." Before turning out the door, dragging Lovino with him.

Ludwig, Feliciano and Alfred were quiet for a full minute before they heard Angered screaming in the distance along with sound of someone punching a tree.

But before anyone could speak up, The door opened up to reveal Gilbert and Elizabeta standing there, Looking very confused.

"Hey, uh, What's with Lovino beating the shit out of a tree while screaming in what i assume is Italian? I asked Antonio, But he just shook his head and looked disappointed." Gilbert asked this, Looking like he was scared to know the answer.

"He's mad that Feliciano and Ludwig are getting married." Alfred said this nonchalantly, as if he just commented on the weather.

"Wait, what?" Elizabeta did a double take Before Grinning ear to ear and squealing delightfully.

"Oh my god! I love weddings. This is going to be amazing!"

Gilbert Looked like he was expecting this as he mumbled to himself,"Proposing near valentines day? Shit, he took my idea!"

"Did you say something, Gilbert?" Elizabeta said, Barely distracted from her Joy and not hearing what Gilbert actually said.

"Um, anyway, Do you guys know when the others will arrive? How many people still coming?" Gilbert said this, Trying to change the subject.

"Well, Kiku said He'll be here any minute and Mathias is just leaving the airport now." Alfred said this, Putting his phone away.

Gilbert and Elizabeta Raised their eyebrows when Alfred mentioned Kiku and gave him Obvious smirks.

"Okay amigos, I think Lovino is good now." Antonio said, Coming back inside with Lovino trailing behind him.

Lovino just looked at Ludwig and Feliciano Before sighing angrily.

"I don't like, not one bit. You're an idiot fratellino. And if you hurt my brother, I'll kill you sauerkraut."

Before Ludwig could respond to that, A voice came from the door.

"Hello everyone, i hope i'm not late. Also I ran into Mathias here, so here he is."

Of course it was kiku, Standing there shyly.

At that moment, Mathias pushed past Kiku, Entering the room with a loud,"Who missed me?!" All the while He wore the biggest grin on his face.

Of course, Alfred and Gilbert ran up to greet him.

"How was Europe? Did you meet any cool people? What was it like?" Alfred and Gilbert asked excitedly.

Mathias, seeing their enthusiasm, Jumped into story mode.

"Oh man, it was so awesome! I saw so many cool places and even met a little Norwegian hottie at my university. Although he ignore any moves i try to make."

Mathias mumbled the last part to himself thoughtfully.

"Okay, Okay, Are we going get this party started or no?" Antonio said, stepping in.

Alfred just seemed to remember the party as he said,"Oh yeah! I have so many party ideas and party games! It's going be so fun!"

Feliciano seemed pleased by the idea of games."Ve~ I love party games! What are we going do first?"

Alfred thought about this before saying,"Good question, Feli. I already know what were going to do first, But I still need to bring the snacks and drinks in. Ludwig, I'm going need your strength to help me carry them."

Ludwig just rolled his eyes before following Alfred to help him.

After watching Ludwig walk out, Feliciano turned to Mathias and Kiku.

"I almost forget to tell you guys! Me and Ludwig are engaged!"

Mathias Reaction was, of course, spontaneous joy."Wow! That's amazing! I wanna go to your guys wedding! But I got school." Mathias said the last bit sadly.

Kiku seemed Unsurprised."I already knew. I saw your and Ludwig's rings."

"But why didn't you mention it?" Feliciano asked, Confused.

But kiku just shrugged.

"Okay Guys, i'm back!"

Everyone turned to see Alfred coming back in, With Ludwig behind him, Carrying everything.

Alfred sat down on the nearby couch, While Ludwig just dropped everything next to the table.

Antonio came from the window and sat down before saying,"It looks like a blizzard is coming, what if we're snowed in?"

Alfred just scoffed,"Please, we have plenty of food and water to last a while. There's even a back up generator.

That seemed to relieve everyone's worries, Except for Lovino's."Oh Great! Trapped in a cabin in the woods, at night! It's like every horror movie ever. Watch, I bet there's a crazy ax killer outside right now!"

"It's okay Lovi, You'll be fine. I won't let a crazy ax killer get you!" Antonio said this, Hugging onto Lovino.

Lovino just shrugged him off before saying,"I am not scared of some idiot with an ax!"

"Okay you two, Lets get back to what i have planned!" Alfred said, interrupting Lovino and Antonio.

Everyone turned to Alfred and sat down around the table.

"Okay, everyone. We are going to play a game called 'Never have i ever.' It's a drinking game where someone says Something they have never done and anyone who has done it has to take a drink. You go first, Kiku."

Kiku looked around before starting."Okay..Never have i ever...Had a crush on a close friend."

Everyone looked around at each other before drinking.

Kiku looked disgruntled at this,"Really? All of you?"

Alfred Just laughed before saying,"Oh kiku, You have no idea. My turn now!"

And so the game went.

-A few hours later.

Feliciano's eyes Opened slowly and he looked around. He was Currently lying on the floor, In a pile of his own drool.

He slowly sat up and looked around the room. The others were also passed out, in various places around the room.

What happened? He thought to himself. He couldn't remember anything after they started playing that game.

He stood up slowly, feeling kinda dizzy. After gaining his balance, He turned and woke up Lovino, Who was cuddling next Antonio.

Lovino sat straight up and said,"Shit! What happened? Why don't i remember anything?"

Feliciano just shrugged and said, "I dunno. I just woke and i don't really remember anything either. i think we should wake the others up."

Lovino looked around before saying,"I Don't think that's necessary. They're already Waking up." As he said this, He pointed to the others, who were beginning to stir.

Alfred and Antonio both sat up with a yawn, waking up Gilbert and Elizabeta in the process.

Gilbert Looked around and said,"Woh, What even happened? Why was i sleeping?"

Elizabeta looked super confused."Yeah, what happened? It's all just a blur. Were Those drinks spiked?"

"I don't think so. At least not by me." Alfred said. As he said this, Kiku and Mathias began to wake up.

Kiku looked around and said,"Did i fall asleep? I'm sorry if i did."

"No, no. It's okay, we all did." Alfred said, Looking around.

Feliciano also looked around the room, a second time and came to a sudden realization.

"Wait! Wait! Where's Ludwig?!"

This got everyone's attention. He was right. Ludwig was nowhere to be seen in the entire room.

Feliciano began to panic.

"I don't even Know. Did he leave? We wouldn't, would he?" Gilbert asked, Standing up, Looking around for his little brother.

"We need to look for him. Maybe he went outside?" Alfred suggested.

"Okay Guys, Let's go check. Don't worry, Ludwig is tough. I bet he just went for a walk." It was Mathias who said this suggested this.

"IN A BLIZZARD?!" Feliciano started yelling and hyperventilating.

"Don't worry Feli, We'll go look and find him." Antonio said, comforting.

As he said this, The others stood up and got their coats.

But when Feliciano stood up, Antonio turned to him and said,"No Feli, I think you need to sit down and calm yourself right now."

Lovino sat down silently next to Feliciano as the other's walked out.

After they left, Lovino patted Feliciano on the back and said,"I'm sure the Kraut breath is fine, fratellino."

Feliciano didn't respond and Lovino didn't say anything else.

They sat in silence for a minute before The door opened and in stepped in the others, shivering and cold.

"We didn't see him, but we're going to look some more after we get some more coats and gloves." Alfred said this walking up to the armoire on the other end of the room.

As he opened the armoire, He jumped back and screamed as Ludwig's Body tumbled out.


	4. Chapter 4

Alfred screamed and Jumped back in shock as Ludwig's body fell to the floor. Ludwig didn't move and appeared to be not breathing.

Lovino and Feliciano, having heard the scream, quickly came to see what had happened. Lovino paled at the sight and covered his mouth in shocked silence, looking incredulously at scene in front of him.

Where Ludwig had fallen, a small pool of blood was beginning to form underneath his head, staining his hair and his clothing red.

Feliciano Stood there in horrified silence, The look on his face told that his world had come crashing down around him. The blood drained from his face and tears swelled in his eyes, running down his cheeks. But he did nothing to wipe them away. He appeared to be going into shock. He couldn't believe nor comprehend what he was seeing.

Also having heard the scream, The others had ran in, looking to see the cause of distress. When they saw Ludwig's pale and lifeless body laying there, their shock and worry was immediate.

Gilbert was the first to respond, though. As soon as he had seen Ludwigs still form, he had ran over to him, kneeling down next to him and began to try and shake him awake.

"LUDWIG?! MEIN GOTT, WAKE UP!" Gilbert began to panic, turning to the others he said "WHATS WRONG WITH MY BROTHER? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LITTLE BROTHER!?" Gilbert looked like he was going break down into hysterics any second.

Alfred spoke up for the first time "I don't know, I just opened the armoire and he fell out! I Don't know how he got in there or anything!" Alfred said this, gripping his hair and beginning to panic.

Her emergency training kicking in, Elizabeta snapped out of her momentary shock an rushed over to Ludwig and Gilbert.

Quickly, she checked his vitals before looking at his apparent head injury, assessing the severity of the wound.

Upon closer examination of the head injury, she turned and said "It looks like a serious blow to Pterion area of his skull. This would have ruptured his middle meningeal artery, It would have Killed him almost instantly." She said the last part with difficultly, nearly choking up. But she forced herself to stay composed and serious.

Upon hearing this, Feliciano Broke from his silent horror-struck stance. He rushed over to Ludwig, pushing the others out of the way.

Feliciano stated shaking Ludwig, trying to get him to respond, to wake up and tell everyone he was fine.

"NO! Ludwig can't die! HE CAN'T BE DEAD! NO! WAKE UP LUDWIG! MOVE, BREATH, JUST GIVE ME A SIGN! He can't be dead!" At this point, Elizabeta and Mathias stepped in and grabbed Feliciano by the arms, pulling him back from the body.

"Stop, Feliciano. You can't move the body like that! You have to calm down." Elizabeta said this, understanding how upset he must be, but needing to keep things from getting further out of control. Gilbert was starting to break down, too.

Hearing the term 'body' only upset Feliciano more. At first he fought against the hands trying to pry him away from Ludwig but soon his hysteria took over and he gave up, falling to the ground in a sniffling, sobbing heap.

"No, he can't be dead! We were going to get married a-and we going to be happy.." Feliciano said this with less energy, sobbing and getting choked up on his words.

Lovino stood Feliciano up and helped him to the couch to sit down.

After Feliciano was seated, Elizabeta looked around before saying "This obviously wasn't an accident. I seriously doubt Ludwig would fall and hit his head like that."

Gilbert stood up in protest, Snapping out of his grief and looking surprised at what Elizabeta was saying.

"Woh, Are you saying someone did this? That's impossible!Who would do this? Who knows what happened when we were all passed out? We don't even remember anything." He said, in disbelieve.

Elizabeta listened, Taking all Gilbert had to say into consideration.

"Okay yes, that's true. But that also proves that this was an act of intentional violence."

When the others looked confused, she elaborated. "We don't remember anything, the drinks were obviously spiked with some kind of knock out drug. Now, why would someone do that unless they were trying to get away with something while we were all out? Someone here spiked the drink and did this. The only question is who and why?"

They looked around at each other, suspicious and unsure. Someone here killed Ludwig.

Mathias looked down at his feet, Looking ashamed of something. Elizabeta quickly noticed this and turned to him.

"What is it Mathias? What do you know?"

Mathias looked around at the others, particularly at the grief stricken Feliciano before taking a deep breath and blurting out "OKAY! I DID IT! I spiked the drinks! But i didn't kill Ludwig, i swear! It was just suppose to be a fun party drug to get us a little buzzed. It wasn't suppose to knock us out completely! I'm just as clueless as you guys about what happened."

The others looked in disbelieve at this, shocked. Elizabeta just closed her eyes while rubbing her temples, as if she had a major head. "Oh my god Mathias,You idiot you should know better then to mess with drugs!"

Mathias looked hurt by her comment, looking more ashamed.

Elizabeta sighed before continuing "Look Mathias, Your lucky that i'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I really don't think you killed Ludwig, but you better know you're largely responsible. God, Know we don't even what happened to him. We can't be sure if this was murder or not unless we have a weapon or something."

At the mention of a weapon, Feliciano's eyes widened as if he just remembered something.

A faint memory came to him. One that shook him to his very core.

As quick as lighting, No longer shaky, Felciano got up and ran to to the love seat on the other side room.

He then started moving the cushions out of the way, digging around for something. The others were puzzled by his behavior, Just a minute ago he couldn't even think clearly!

Until he felt something hard and cold. He pulled it out from under a cushion, looking at it in horror.

It was a brass colored bookend, Probably metal or some other hard material. And it was covered in dark wet blood.

Feliciano dropped it to the ground with a shriek, His eyes full of disbelieve.

The others looked at the bookend and Feliciano, Shocked. How did he know about the weapon, or were it was?

Feliciano on the other hand, looked more petrified then ever, as if he couldn't go on anymore.

Looking around the room at the others, at Ludwig's still body and back to bookend, he said with guilt and hesitation

"I did it, I killed Ludwig."


	5. 5

Alice tapped her foot impatiently as she waited in the reception room of the d.n.a lab. She eventually had decided that she had to know who Alfred's father was, Ivan's words finally getting to her.

She looked at her watch aggravated by both the wait and noise of fluorescent lights buzzing above and People trying to calm their crying babies.

That's the reason most people came. To figure out the father of their baby. Maybe she should have done this back then? So at least Alfred would grow up knowing who his real father was. Not that she doubted it was Francis.

She was currently at a private facility because she wanted to keep it discreet. She still hadn't told Francis, nor did she want to. But if The results didn't turn out like she hoped, she would have to eventually.

She had even plan to come at the time she did, Alfred was gone at a party and Francis got caught up in business. But she still didn't have much time due the fact that it was valentine's day and Francis wanted to spend the evening with her.

At that moment, she heard someone call her name.

"Alice Bonnefoy-Kirkland?"

At that, she stood up and went to meet the one who would be in charge of doing the genetic test and would be making sure to keep it under wrap.

"Yes? Are you Dr. Heinz? The one I talked to over the phone?" Alice asked curiously, even though it probably was.

"Yes I am." She said this with a smile as she outstretched her hand.

As Alice and her shook hands, she continued. "Let's talk in my office, I understand that the reason you're here is rather personal."

"Of course. Let's talk about there." Alice said, following after her.

Her Office was just down the hall, so it wasn't long walk.

Once inside, she looked around.

The room was relatively small, almost cozy. The walls were a solid dark maroon color, the wall were also covered in plenty of diagrams and posters showing the different structures of chromosomes and what-not. There was two chairs infront of a wooden desk on the other side of the room, infront of a window. Doctor Heinz desk was very organized. Not a single paper out of place.

As Alice took a seat, Dr. Heinz began speaking.

"So I understand you're here to find out if your husband is the father of your son, correct?"

"Yes, sent in some hair samples yesterday. I want to know when I will get the results."

Alice was able to get some hair from their combs, Although she hoped they wouldn't notice them out of place.

"Well the test doesn't take too long, but we do redo the test multiple times to make sure their is no mistakes. Also , i would like to ask you if you plan on telling your husband at all?"

"Of course, If Alfred isn't his son, I would have to tell him" Alice said this, almost annoyed by the thought that she would keep something like that from Francis.

"Well, I must ask. You mention you know who the other possible father is. Usually, If their is any hatred or such between the possible fathers , it deters the mother from telling, especially after so many years of one raising the child."

Alice almost felt as if she was being judged for cheating, for letting Francis believe that Alfred was his son when she never truly knew. God, she felt like a terrible mother.

For the past few days she could almost feel everyone's eyes on her, thinking badly about her, despite the fact no one knew. She was becoming paranoid.

Dr. Heinz continued "Well, I can assure you the results should be back in a week. Is that soon enough for you..?"

Was is soon enough to prepare yourself for what you might have to tell your husband? Alice knew that's what she was getting at.

"Yes, that would be fine." In a week, Alice would have left with Francis for a vacation In south america. So if she has to tell him...Well at least she got to spend a few romantic days together before their marriage is put through absolute hell. And if she doesn't have to tell him..well they can continue their vacation with Francis never having to know.

"Well then, I think that should wrap up our meeting unless you have anymore questions?" When Alice shook her no, she continued. "Well then, it was nice meeting you and i wish you the best of luck."

As Alice was exiting the building, she keep thinking to herself what she was going to do if it was Ivan's child. Would she tell him? Would she have to?

As she was walking through the parking lot, thinking to herself, she was looking down at her feet and not looking out where she was going.

She was distracted from her train of thought when she crashed into someone, falling to the ground.

"You should really watch where you're going, Kirkland." Said a voice in a deep Russian accent. She looked up to spot, Of course, Ivan there.

He smiled as he offered her a hand. Ignoring it, she pulled herself up and said with a scowl "What the bloody hell are you doing here? Did you follow me?"

His smile turning more twisted, he said "What does it matter? Looks like you're finally taking my advice. How nice, I might be a father to another child soon."

Alice simply said, her voice full of venom " I am not doing this for your benefit, or anyone else's. I'm doing this because I want to know. Who even said I would tell you what the results are?"

Ivan chuckled cruelly before leaning in and quietly saying "I think i'll figure out the answer when i see Francis packing his bags and leaving."

Getting fed up with his antics, she responded with "Well, you seem to be forgetting that you cheated on your wife. How is she and your children going to respond to that?"

That got to him. Snapping his jaw shut, he retorted "Well at least i didn't trick her into thinking she was the parent of my child without actually knowing."

"Listen here you egotistical asshole, Alfred isn't your son! When the test results come back, it will only prove that!" With that statement, Alice turned and left, not even bothering to look back.

Once in her car, she drove off, resisting the urge to run Ivan over.

God, those results better come back positive.

-Back at the cabin

Everyone looked at Feliciano in shock.

Elizabeta stepped up cautiously to Him before gently saying "What do you mean you killed Ludwig? Did you start remembering stuff? Do you actually remember killing him?"

Feliciano looked down, ashamed in his eyes before saying "Not exactly, But i remember yelling at him. I was real angry about something. What would even be angry about?! I'm never angry at Ludwig. Next thing i remember is holding the bookend."

Elizabeta nodded at this before asking "Well that doesn't actually prove it...But do you remember Ludwig getting at all violent? Maybe if you did hit him, It was in self defense."

He just shook his head wistfully "No, not at all. I remember he just took it. He didn't even try to calm me down."

Lovino then jumped into the conversation "Well that doesn't mean my brother actually killed him, does it?"Lovino said, jumping into the conversation, hopeful that is brother was innocent. Elizabeta just shook her head. "We don't know for sure, but as soon the storm has calmed down and I can actually get a call out from here, I'm going to have call the police and report everything iv'e heard and seen."

"What? No way! Everything is going to point to Feliciano being the killer and he'll get arrested for a crime I know he would never commit." Lovino said this, angry and defensive.

"Look Lovino, it's my duty to report everything. I really think Feliciano would be fine. Especially since the chief of police is your g-" Lovino interrupted her, sick of what she was saying. "It's not going help Just because our grandfather is chief of police. It's gonna look like murder anyway."

"We could just not...mention that Feliciano claims to remember getting angry at Ludwig, or holding the weapon." It was Alfred who said this.

Everyone turned looked at him, some actually seemed to consider it.

"What? No! What if i did kill him? You guys can't break the law just to cover for me!" Feliciano said, Outraged by the very thought.

"Yes, We cannot do that. That would be breaking so many laws. We can't just hold our self's above the law! I could lose my job!" Elizabeta added, looking upset.

Lovino turned to her, seething with anger. "Fuck your job! My brother could spend his life in prison!"

Alfred then said "Listen Liz, do you really want to put Feliciano behind bars. You know he wouldn't kill Ludwig."

"Okay then, what about the weapon then? That has His finger prints on it. You can't just act like he didn't touch it, It will look suspicious." Elizabeta said, challenging their crazy idea.

"We could hide the weapon. What if we made it look like he fell and hit his head?" It was Lovino who said this.

"Hell no! We can't do that! Do you even hear yourself right now?" Elizabeta said, disgusted.

"Look, Nothing will bring Ludwig back now. We should be stopping Feliciano from having his life ruined further." Mathias said, taking Lovino's side. The other's nodded in agreement.

Elizabeta sighed "Are you guys really going to go through with this?" When she saw the others nod, she continued "Fine. But if we're gonna do this, we doing this right. No mistakes. Antonio and Kiku, I'm going need your guy's help. We'll take him outside and make it look like he slipped on the ice." But before she could do any of this, Feliciano spoke up for the first time in a while.

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! I might have killed him! I Can't go through with this!" Feliciano then turned to glare at Gilbert "And I can't believe you would either. Ludwig is your brother." Feliciano said this, With an look on his face Gilbert never seen before. It hurt how much shame Gilbert felt, but he wanted to protect Feliciano too.

Mathias then stepped in, Trying to calm Him down and having him take a seat down at the couch.

The others went to help Elizabeta with her plan.

Lovino turned to Alfred and casually asked "And since when do you even care what happens to Feliciano or Ludwig?"

Alfred simply said "Believe or not, i do care about Feliciano. He's one of my best friends. Ludwig too. It's really tragic."

Lovino Chuckled with out humor. "Ha, you act like the kraut breath was-" But with that, Lovino cut himself off. With those words, a memory came flooding back to him.

A memory of the party. First, a Memory of Alfred and Ludwig arguing with each other. They both seemed very upset.

Then, later, a memory of some of something something so atrocious and messed up, it made Lovino want to punch something. Specifically Alfred.

Shocked, Lovino looked up at Alfred with anger in his eyes.

"Yo-you bastard! You were having an affair with Ludwig!"


	6. 6

Worried, Alfred looked around to see if anyone overheard Lovino's accusation. When he saw that no one had, he turned back to Lovino and quietly said "Look dude, I don't know what you're talking about but I thin-" Lovino cut him off, not wanting to hear his lies.

"Don't you dare lie to me, bastard. I remember it clearly now. You were kissing him. Ha, this explains so fucking much! For the past few months, you've been overly clingy with Ludwig and Feliciano. But I guess you were just in it for the potato bastard." Lovino said this, looking like he wanted to kill Alfred, or even go stab Ludwig a few times to make sure he was actually dead.

Alfred scoffed at his accusations before saying "Wow, i'm surprised you remember so much." He raised an eyebrow before continuing"And besides, we were all drugged. I could have been kissing you, for all we know."

Lovino laughed mockingly at this. "Your not my type. And besides, I know what I saw."

Alfred then sarcastically said "Oh that's right, Your type is the cute Spanish dude kind. And anyways, I think I would remember kissing Ludwig."

Lovino, getting feed up said "Uh huh, So if you're so sure that i'm wrong, i'll just go ask the others if they remember anything similar." As he said this, he turned to leave.

But Alfred grabbed him by the arm, making him halt before saying "Okay, okay. I'll explain. Just listen." Lovino simply shook his arm off before turning to face him and to hear him out.

"Okay then, tell me everything. And don't fucking lie to me." Lovino said, not in the mood for any shit.

Alfred took a deep breath before continuing. "Yes, Ludwig and I were having an affair. But please don't be mad at Ludwig! It was going on for a few months and he felt horrible!"

This just seemed to piss Lovino off more. "Oh, so it was only going on for a few months? I guess that makes it all better! And he felt bad? About cheating on my brother? How considerate of him!"

Alfred just hung his head in shame before saying "Look, I feel terrible. It's not like I did it just to hurt Feliciano."

Lovino just nodded angrily "Yeah, Okay. Try explaining that to him after I go tell him."

At this, Alfred's head shot up and he stopped Lovino before he could turn to go inform Feliciano.

"Look man, you really don't want to do that." He said, worried.

Lovino turned to him and snapped "And why is that? So you don't have to look your friend in the eyes and admit you were sleeping with his fiance? To save yourself some guilt?"

"No, not at all! Just look at Felicaino right now. He's in absolute hell. This would only hurt him more." As Alfred said this, he seemed genuinely worried for Feliciano.

"He deserves to know!" Lovino said, not convinced.

"Okay, look at this way. Part of the reason everyone believes he is innocent is because he has no reason to murder. But throw the fact I was kissing Ludwig, the fact we were having an affair and BAM! Then there's motivation and suddenly Feliciano yelling at Ludwig and holding that bookend make sense. You'll only make your brother look more guilty."

Lovino seemed to consider this a moment before saying "Fine, I won't tell him. But remember this asshole, I'm only doing this for him. As for you, you better watch watch your back."

At that moment, the others came back in.

Elizabeta cleared her throat before speaking. "Ahem. Okay, we've set it up outside so it appears that Ludwig fell and hit his head on a rock outside. With my expertise in the field of police investigation and with our combined effort, we might be able to pull this off with out ending up in a jail cell.

But of course, even with Elizabeta's reassurance, no one looked pleased at the fact they were going to be able to cover up a murder. They knew what they were doing was messed up and twisted.

Feliciano just looked down, sickened with himself. They were covering up a crime. A crime he probably committed. He wasn't sure if he would be able live with himself.

Elizabeta continued. "We'll need to match our stories up for when the police question us separately. And no giving out unnecessary details. Just stick to want they want to know. "

This is when Gilbert spoke up, The grief still obvious in his voice. "And what are we suppose to tell them, exactly?"

"We tell them that Ludwig went outside because he forgot something in his car, but he slipped on ice and hit his head on a rock. No more, no less. Also, I know this is a very difficult thing to do, but NO ONE breaks. If you crack, we all go down with you 'cause the police will be questioning us hard and you have to keep. It. Together. It's like ride or die right now." Elizabeta said this in all seriousness.

"So when do we call the police? Are you able to get cell service yet?" Kiku asked this.

"As soon as I make sure you guys are clear on the plan. Do you guys understand?" When they nodded, she continued. "Okay, First I need to make sure everything is set up properly outside and then I make the call." As Elizabeta said this, she turned and went outside.

Everyone waited inside, quietly while she went to check.

But not even 30 seconds had past when they heard the scream.

Of course, they got up and ran outside as fast as they could, Gilbert leading the way.

When they got out there, they saw Elizabeta staring down at the snow covered ground. Right where Ludwig's body previously was. He was gone. Not a trace of him as far as they could see. It was like he had vanished, leaving nothing behind but the red blood stained snow.


	7. Chapter 7

Elizabeta turned to them, the calm facade she held all night now broken."He's gone. I don't see any sign of him. No foot prints or trails." She said this, baffled by the thought.

"This is impossible! He couldn't have just vanished." Alfred said, just as confused as the others. Elizabeta nodded at this before adding."Of course he didn't vanish. He either was taken by someone or he was actually alive and he left on his own."

As this conclusion dawned on the others, they began to panic.

"What is he was taken? We could be next to die!" "What if he's alive and he tells the police we tried to cover up his death?" "I don't want to die or end up in jail!"

Soon everyone was hysterical and was freaking out about their current situation. What was going to happen? Were they gonna be next to die? Or would the police just arrest them all?

Elizabeta took a deep breath, attempting to regain her composure and be the voice of reason.

"Listen guys, you guys need to calm down! panicking will get us nowhere! Now listen up, I have a new plan." Elizabeta snapped at them, making them shut up almost immediately.

When they were quiet and gave their undivided attention, she continued."It's too late to go back now. We already set up a fake death scenario. If we tell the cops, not only will It look like feliciano killed Ludwig but on top of that, we tried to cover it up. Also, we don't have anyway to disprove the fact that one of us could of hide the body to the cops."

Lovino then interrupted, asking"Well then, what are we suppose to do? Tell them Ludwig just disappeared?"

Elizabeta just smiled with out any humor to it. "Exactly. First we say that Antonio fell and got hurt and we sent Ludwig for help, but he never came back. It's snowing and dark, so it won't be to unbelievable." Antonio interrupted, confused."But i'm not hurt at all?"

She just looked at him before pushing him down, causing him to land on the ground with a thud, hitting his back and arm."Ow, That hurt!"

She looked at him apologetically."Sorry, but now you'll have bruises to prove it. When they ask how you got hurt, say that you tripped backwards over the table in the cabin and knocked yourself unconscious." as she said this, she helped him up.

When Antonio nodded in agreement, she said."Good, are we all clear? We stick to the same story, do not add unnecessary details and no one cracks. I'm making the call now."

-At the police station.

Police chief Roma Vargas was sitting in his office when suddenly, Roderich Edelstein opened the door and came in.

"What is it Edelstein?" He didn't even bother to look up when he entered.

"Sir, we have an emergency call from the Kirkland cabin. There was a party, but It appears that someone went missing in the blizzard, although we don't know who yet."

Roma just looked up at Roderich and said,"Well then, send some officers up there and have a search and rescue. Come on boy, this is standard procedure. I think you can handle that on your own with out my help." He said this with a laugh.

Roderich just looked at him gravely before continuing,"Sir, I wanted to inform you because it was actually Elizabeta who placed the call. Not only that, but your grandsons were at that party."

This got Roma's attention real quick. Standing up, he said,"Wait. My grandsons were at the party and now someones missing? I need to get over there and make sure my Grandchildren are safe. Roderich, you don't need to worry about this case. I'll handle this one."

But Roderich wasn't in agreement with that one."Well, actually sir, I was hoping to go and make sure Elizabeta was okay. If you don't mind, I would like to help."

Roma looked at him and for the first time, noticed how worried he looked. The look in his eyes showing that he cared for Elizabeta almost as much as Roma cared for his Grandchildren.

He just nodded."Fine, you can come help me with this one. Let's go."

When they arrived at the cabin, they could them waiting outside, pacing nervously. As they pulled in, the group looked up.

As Roma got out of the car, he was relieved to see that both of his grandsons appeared to be okay. As the other officers started questioning the other's he ran up and pulled his Lovino and Feliciano into a tight hug.

"Thank god you two are alright. I was so worried!" But when he looked down and saw the look of absolute grief on his younger grandson, his worry only increased."Whats wrong Feliciano? What happened?"

Feliciano couldn't even form a coherent respond. Instead he broke into to tears, sobbing."I-it's Ludwig. H-he's gone." Before Roma could ask any more questions, Elizabeta came over to them, followed by a relieved looking Roderich and a still too mournful Gilbert to be bothered by roderich.

"I wouldn't ask him too many questions, chief. Ludwig's the one that's missing and Feliciano is extremely torn up right now." He nodded understandingly, not knowing the real reason why Elizabeta didn't want Feliciano to be questioned at the moment.

Roma turned to Elizabeta, still holding on to his grandson."How did he go missing? I need the full story."

"Well, you see, the party was fine until Antonio over there" She nodded to where Antonio sat, being questioned along with Mathias and Kiku, Before continuing "tipped over a table and knocked himself unconscious like the klutz he is. Anyway, we were worried he had seriously hurt himself, but we weren't able to cellphone service or anything. So Ludwig decided to go out and find help but he never came back. We tried texting him, telling him that Antonio came through and appeared to be fine but we didn't get any response."

Roma just nodded, not appearing to question the word of one his most loyal officers."Well, we have the story now. So we'll send a search team to go look for Ludwig look for Ludwig. But in the mean time, i'm gonna need you guys down at the station for additional questions. I know you guy's already had a rough night, but it's basic procedure."

"It's okay, we'll answer as many questions as possible to help find Ludwig." Elizabeta said in faked sincerity.

-Later at the police station.

They had been questioned for some time now, it almost 5:00 in the morning. Roma apologized for keeping them so long, but it took awhile to question them all individually.

Alfred's parents actually showed up a little bit ago, having heard the news and being worried about their son. He was currently sitting with them.

Kiku called his parents, but only his mother came. His father got caught up in business. It didn't really bother him. He and Ivan weren't that close anyway.

Feliciano had been crying the whole time, even after his tears dried up and his eyes were red and puffy, he cried.

Gilbert was currently being comforted by Antonio and Mathias.

But at that moment, Roma came from his office, having finished questioning Lovino.

"Feliciano, I need ask you a few questions now." As Roma said this, he sighed sadly. He knew how difficult this would be for Feli.

Feliciano just got up and silently followed him to his office. Once inside, he didn't say a word as he sat down. It hurt Roma to see his grandson like this, but he could only imagine what he was going through.

"So Feli, Ludwig went to search for help, correct?" Roma asked, trying to start with easy questions.

Feliciano just nodded.

"But he didn't come back?" Roma hoped this question would upset him too much.

"Yes, he went to go look for help after Antonio hurt himself, but he never came back." Feliciano's voice started to break towards the end of his sentence and tears started running down his face again. God, he probably shed more tears tonight then in his whole life.

Feliciano moved his hand to wipe away his tears and in this action, Roma caught sight of Feliciano's silver engagement ring.

"Uh, Feli, what's that on your left hand?" Feliciano was thrown of by the question and looked down at his hand, remembering that he still hadn't told his family about him and Ludwig's engagement. But now, there wasn't going to be a wedding.

The tears now ran freely down Feliciano face and he repressed the urge to breakdown sobbing again. Instead, he said with a sniffle."Me and Ludwig were engaged. He proposed a few days ago. We actually planned to tell you today." Roma could see how just saying this made his grandson want to break down again. God, Roma hoped they we would find Ludwig.

"Okay, no further questions Feli. You're free to go." He said with a sigh.

Feliciano just walked out silently and went to go sit with lovino.

Elizabeta as currently talking to Roderich.

"God Elizabeta, you don't even know how worried I was. Poor Ludwig, I hope he's found." Roderich said this mournfully. He and Ludwig were actually kinda pals. "Yeah, just look at the state Feliciano is in. Gilbert too." Elizabeta said, worried.

"Yeah, even though he's kinda an asshole, I gotta admit how much he cares about his brother." Roderich said in agreement.

But at that moment, Roma came from his office with a mournful look on his face."Okay, I just been informed that due to the harsh conditions outside and how long isolated Ludwig would be in them, The search has gone from search and rescue to search and recovery."

The look of despair that came crashing down on feliciano's face was immediate. He wasn't an idiot, he knew what search and recovery was. He should have been expecting this but he still hoped that Ludwig would be found alive.

But at that moment another officer came rushing in with news."That won't be necessary, Chief. We found him."


	8. Chapter 8

'We found him.' These three little words sent hope flying though Feliciano's chest. Maybe he was actually alive. Feliciano wanted jump with joy. Maybe Ludwig, his fiance, his love, his entire life, was still here.

But his hope was fleeting, The next words to come from the officer's mouth sending him back into despair.

"We found him in a car crashed into a tree, a few miles away. He was pronounced D.O.A., dead on arrival." The officer said this in a cold, emotionless tone. Feliciano drowned at the voice of the officer, not wanting to hear anymore of it. The hopelessness of this entire situation made Feliciano want to scream.

Ludwig was gone, really dead. The first time he was found dead by his friends was enough to make Feliciano shattered beyond all repair, but then, to have hope he was alive, only to have come crashing down a second time. It was too much.

It seemed like years had passed since Ludwig and him was talking about their wedding, planning their future. But it was only yesterday since Ludwig was alive, happy and smiling with Feliciano.

He almost couldn't believe it. Feliciano knew there was no denying it, there wasn't any reason to hope he was still alive in the first place. Feliciano saw the wound, saw the blood, saw Ludwig lying there lifelessly. But still, he hoped...he hoped that Ludwig would come back to him.

This day would forever serve as the first of many reminders to Feliciano and the others that life could change in an instant, that your life could take a turn for the absolute worst at any given moment and there was no stopping that fact.

Upon hearing this,Gilbert broke down into tears again, Elizabeta trying to comfort him. Feliciano looked away, feeling as if he was as if he was going to break down again himself.

The others had looks of sadness and guilt. Roderich looked both saddened and surprised at this news, obviously not expecting him to be found dead.

But at that moment, the officer speaking was cut off by some other voice of authority.

"Okay officer, that's all we need to hear for now. These kids Obviously don't want to hear the gritty details." They looked up to spot a man who seemed quite young for the air authority he carried. He was quite short, with chin length blond hair and stern green eyes. He spoke with a slight Swiss accent and didn't appear to be a usual officer but he was clearly carrying a gun and he apparently held some amount of jurisdiction here.

Roderich and Elizabeta almost immediately recognized him as Vash Zwingli, one of the top detectives in the entire city, no state and was chief Vargas's second hand man.

Roderich's mood turned from mournful to annoyed the moment he spot Vash, obviously not expecting him there.

"We don't appreciate being called kids, Zwingli. And what are you even doing here? I thought you were taking time off." Roderich said, with a bit too much attitude for Vash's liken.

While Vash looked at Roderich, just as annoyed as him, he seemed to weigh the pros and cons of smacking him. When he appeared to decide against it, he just sighed "I can call you what ever I please, and even though it's not your business, I'm done with my time off. I came back early when I heard about Beilschmidts death. It sounded kind of suspicious to me."

Elizabeta gulped and looked nervous along with the others who knew what really happened. Roderich on the other hand, looked puzzled."What do you mean 'suspicious'? The man got into a car crash in a blizzard and died." He looked to Feliciano apologetically."Kinda of simple."

Vash rolled his eyes."Its not for you to question. I'm the detective, not you." Roderich just grumbled unhappily at this. It was no secret that Roderich was envious of Vash's high rank.

"Well then, If you won't tell us, we should get going. I want to make sure Feliciano gets home safely." Elizabeta said, wanting to get out of there before Vash could ask too many questions.

"Well then, let me walk my grandsons out." Roma Vargas said, waltzing out of his office.

Feliciano and Lovino just solemnly nodded and followed him out, Elizabeta following. Soon Gilbert got up after her, Mathias and Antonio following to make sure he would be okay.

Alfred and Kiku having left with their families a few minutes before, Only Vash and Roderich remained.

After a moment of silence, Vash turned to Roderich."As I was saying, I need to get more details on what happened tonight. You were there, right?"

Roderich just shook his head before simply saying,"No, no I wasn't."

"I guess I should'a known, you're in a much better state then those kids."

Roderich just chuckled coldly at the use of the term 'kids'. "God, I wish I was there. Maybe I could have prevented this. If anything had happened to Elizabeta...I don't know what I would do.''

"Well you weren't there, so don't you dare start blaming yourself. And Elizabeta is fine...I know you love her, but she can take care of herself." Vash hesitated before mentioning Roderich's feelings for Elizabeta, not sure if that was a subject he even wanted to bring up.

"Is it really that obvious? I mean, It probably is, but even you know?" Roderich said, sighing.

Vash laughed out loud at this. A real laugh, almost as if he felt embarrassed for him."Yeah, even I noticed. I'm pretty sure half the town noticed."

He stopped laughing after a moment, noticing Roderich's abashed expression, his tone turning serious again."But seriously, why do you love her so much? She's with Gilbert. Why not just cut your losses and move on?"

Roderich just shook his head sadly."Well, as much as Gilbert annoys me, I'm happy shes happy. I try to move on..but Iv'e loved her since middle school. It's not that easy to get over something like that. But It's not like you would understand, Sir 'I don't need anyone'." Roderich said the last bit mockingly.

"You would be surprised how much I understand wanting to move on. But It's things like that that make me try and avoid having romantic feelings for anyone. To much pain."

Roderich seemed amused by this."And hows that plan going." Roderich said this, expecting some smartass answer.

Instead, Vash just looked up at the ceiling, quietly for a moment before saying."I don't know."


	9. Chapter 9

It was currently the next day and Alfred was currently at home, sitting on the red living room couch and trying to calm himself. His parents picked him up from the police station. He had called them some time after talking to the cops at the station.

Now that he thought about it, he realized he must have interrupt his parents valentines evening. But he didn't think about that when he was scared and frighted at the station.

He was still shaken to the core due the events that transpired at the cabin, covering up a murder and lying to the cops. And someone found out about his and Ludwig's affair. He never meant for anyone to find out. He didn't want anyone else to find out, but now that Lovino knew, It probably won't stay a secret for long.

Alfred just hoped to avoid hurting Feli. He still cared about Feliciano. If he didn't, he wouldn't agreed to be apart of his wedding.

Looking back, Alfred remembered how much it hurt to agree to that. To find out about Ludwig marrying Feliciano. Because even though it was only sex to Ludwig, Alfred had feelings for him.

He shook his head in disgust at this thought. To have feelings for a engaged man. To a dead man, a dead man who's fiance would be mourning him. He was a awful person.

At that moment though, his brooding was interrupted."Is something wrong Alfred?" It was his mother, looking worried for him. He noticed that she's been on edge for the past few days. And although it was probably work related, she seemed more tense than before.

"No mom, I'm still just kinda in shock. I feel like it was my fault. If I hadn't thrown this party, none of this would have happened." This seemed to really worry Alice. She came and sat down beside him on the couch and put a protective arm around him.

"Listen Alfred, there is somethings in life that you have no control of. While it may haven't happened otherwise, it doesn't make you at fault. This was just a horrible, horrible accident. Sometimes bad situations sprout up from places you didn't intend them to." Alice said the last bit almost as if she wasn't talking about Alfred party anymore.

"Sounds like you're talking from experience."

Alice just chuckled."You would be surprised. I know I'm the best mom ever, but I had life before I had you...made some stupid mistakes in my youth."

Alfred rolled his eye mockingly."Wow, Alice Kirkland making mistakes? Who are you and what have you done with my mother?" He said this jokingly, chuckling along with Alice.

This is what Alfred liked about his relationship with his mother. That no matter what, he could tell her anything.

Then Alice seemed to remember something, a questioned, but she hesitated before asking.

"I don't want to ask to many hard questions..but when is the memorial?" Oh yeah, Alfred got a text a few hours ago from Elizabeta, telling him the time of the memorial. She also texted him to making sure he kept his mouth shut. He deleted those ones.

"Uh, It's actually later today. I should probably should get ready...I want to be there to make sure Gilbert and Feli are doing okay."

Alice nodded understandingly."Feliciano is a good kid, dim as he is, I hope he's doing okay."

Alfred just groaned."Probably not to well, I don't think anyone is okay."

-Later

The gang was currently at the coffee house, meeting up before the memorial. They sat there, silent for the most part. only Elizabeta actually eating, chewing on some cookies. They still couldn't believe Ludwig was dead. It had been two days, but it was hard to believe he was gone. Elizabeta knew Ludwig since he was toddler, through Gilbert.

Antonio, and Mathias knew Ludwig since he was young also through Gilbert. Alfred on the other hand, met him through kiku. Kiku was one of Ludwig's first friends, and was also a friend of Feliciano before the two even met. Thinking about how well connected the group was, its weird Feliciano and Ludwig didn't even met up until High school.

But then again, the gang didn't come together like how they were now until high school and college.

While sitting there, Antonio checked his watch. He did a double take, surprised."Wow...It's been almost an hour and Feliciano still isn't here." This got the others attention quickly.

"You're right...where the hell is my brother?" Lovino said, checking his phone, both annoyed and worried.

"Maybe we should stop by his apartment and make sure he's doing okay..?" It was Elizabeta who suggested this, starting to worry herself.

Gilbert agreed, wanting to make sure nothing happened to him."Yeah, we should go and check...maybe we shouldn't have left him only like this." The others nodded in agreement as they got up and followed him out. Elizabeta stopped to grab some more cookies."I need these..."

Once at his apartment, Lovino didn't even bother to knock. He just pulled out the spare key hidden above the door frame and let himself and the others in.

Once inside, it wasn't hard to spot Feliciano. He was curled up on the couch, watching looking at something on a laptop. He looked up, not seeming surprised by their entrance.

"Feliciano, what are you doing here? The memorial starts soon." Elizabeta said, relieved he was okay, but annoyed a bit.

Feliciano looked back to the screen, a sad smile on his face."I was looking at some pictures Ludwig had on his laptop. There's a lot of me and him. I haven't even seen some of these." He continued to look at the said pictures on the laptop, a small grin still on his face. The others just joined him, wanting to see.

Lovino and Gilbert took a seat beside him on the couch Elizabeta, Antonio and Mathias stood behind the couch, looking over his shoulder.

The picture on the screen was of Ludwig and Feliciano at the beach. The sun was setting over the water, the first bits of a purple twilight creeping up from the horizon. The beach looked mostly vacant, with the exception of some people still swimming in the water. Ludwig was sunburned and Feliciano was pouting over something.

Feliciano actually remembered that day. It was last summer. It a real dog day, with soaring temperatures. In an effort to escape the heat in a fun way, Feliciano suggested they go to the beach. Of course Ludwig had forgotten to bring sun screen and suffered the consequences, unlike Feliciano, who didn't suffer from sunburn as bad as he did, with his dark olive toned skin.

Feliciano was pouting because a dog actually came up and stole his ice cream. Ludwig laughed at this, thinking it was funny or cute. Feliciano then playfully hit him in the shoulder, only to regret it when he winced in pain due to the previously mentioned sunburn. But other than those two things, it was a happy day. They were there for a few hours, Swimming, playing catch or even just relaxing in each others arms on the beach. They got some weird or disgusted looks, but Feliciano ignored them, not letting anything ruin his day.

"Is it all just pictures on here?" Alfred asked, snapping Feliciano out of the warm memory that felt of sand under your feet and smelt of saltwater in the air, back into harsh and stone cold reality.

"Um, no. There's videos too, I already watched some." They were simple videos, mostly funny or cute short clips Ludwig had taken around the house, a lot of them featured Feliciano. Just by looking at these pictures and videos, one could just tell how much Feliciano was the center of Ludwig's life.

Speaking of videos, the very next file happened to be a video. Looking at the date, it was February 13th, the day before the valentines party. Curious, Feliciano didn't hesitate before pushing play.

It was Ludwig. He was sitting in the living room, on the couch.

But unlike in the other photos and videos, Ludwig looked nervous in this one, constantly glancing around to make sure no one was watching him.

"Okay, camera on. To Feliciano or anyone watching this, if you're currently watching this, then somethings happened. I just hope he doesn't find this footage and destroys it." Ludwig looked around nervously again."I have had stalker for the past few days. He's always watching. I don't know who he is, but I know he has ill intents. I think he's waiting, bidding his time. He could be watching me now."

Another glace to both sides."He's always following me in public, I just know it. I'll see a shadow just out my line of sight, Or a figure will hide when I look behind me in the store. I'll hear footsteps a couple meters behind me when I walk to my car at night, only to stop when I turn and look around." As Ludwig said this, he shivered, obviously disturbed.

It frighted Feliciano to see Ludwig like this. Ludwig was always tough and strong, never afraid.

Ludwig continued."I may not know who it is, but I think I know who he works for. Recently, I discovered a secret the powerful families of this town is keeping. The Kirkland and the Braginski families are keeping a secret so big, it would change everything if it got out. Since its so big, I feel as if I must document it here. If you see this video, tell everyone about this. It has to get out. The secret that they are keeping is-nefjnezxncznhd" The video went static, both the sound and video distorting.

Everyone looked shocked and worried, wondering what the hell happened to the video.

Quickly, Antonio jumped over the back of the couch and sat down next to Feliciano, grabbing the laptop trying to figure out what happened.

"Crap, the file is apparently corrupted. I'll have to work on it to see if i can recover any of the video." Antonio said, frustrated.

Elizabeta looked puzzled by this."Okay, but what the hell did he mean by a 'secret'?What have the Kirkland's and Braginski's been keeping?"

With this, the others turned to look Alfred and Kiku, them being the only two in the room with any relation to the families.

"Don't look at me, dudes. I don't know anything." Alfred said, defensively. Kiku just nodded in agreement."I don't know what he was talking about either. It probably involves our parents. Not that I would be surprised if it involved mine.."

Alfred look shocked by this statement."Not mine! they wouldn't keep something from me, or do something like send someone after Ludwig!"

"Well, It it's obvious that this person has something to with Ludwig's death." Elizabeta said, speaking up for the first time since they showed up.

Antonio just stood up."Well, we'll have to figure this all out later. The memorial starts in 10 minutes, I'll have fix what ever's going on with the laptop after." As he said this, he walked to the door, the others just looked at each other in agreement and followed.


	10. Chapter 10

As they walked it to the memorial, they could see that a few had others had already arrived. Feliciano was surprised to see his parents had came, although he wasn't surprised about his grandfather or younger brother being there.

Cautiously, he made his way up to them, Lovino following behind."I didn't expect to see you guys here." Feliciano said, timidly.

Mrs. Vargas just smiled, regret in her eyes."Well Feli, we know how hard today must be for you." She took a deep breath before continuing."So we'll try and be here for you."

This surprised Feliciano. He's mother finally coming to terms with his and Ludwig's relationship. Too bad it was too late. But before it could seem too good to be true, Feliciano's father had to open his mouth."Yes, we'll be here to support you, but..you have admit this may be sign it was time for you to...get over this phase of yours."

Feliciano couldn't believe had the hell he just heard."W-what the hell does that mean? Are you saying this is a good thing?! Feliciano couldn't even think of a comprehensible response to this.

That was when Lovino pushed past Feliciano, standing protectively in front of him."No. No one has time for you homophobia or bigotry. You can choose to act like an adult or not, Because if I hear you say something like that to Feliciano again, I will personally throw you out of here." Lovino said this in typical angry Lovino fashion.

Their father just shut his mouth at this outburst, not wanting anger his son further.

Lovino then led Feliciano away and had him sit between him and their friends.

Gilbert was currently sitting with Elizabeta, being comforted by her. It was hard for both of them, but it was especially hard for Gilbert. Ludwig was his baby brother. and Gilbert looked out for most of their childhood. On top of that, when Gilbert was in college and Ludwig still was in highschool, their parents died in a car crash. That's when Gilbert took Ludwig in as his legal guardian until he turned 18.

Ludwig and Gilbert's parents had already decided that should anything happen to them, their sons would be taken in by their grandfather. But around the time they died, Their grandfather was starting to develop dementia and was determined not fit to take care of Ludwig.

At that moment, the memorial started.

As it went on, Feliciano tried to drain out the words of the minister leading the ceremony. He didn't want to think about what he was here or who he had lost.

But he couldn't drown it out for long, because now people were starting to say a few words of their own."Would anyone like to say any meaningful words or thoughts? If so, please step up now." Feliciano was debating to whether he could say anything or not, but ultimately he shakely got up and made his way to the front.

As he stood in front of the room, he took the mic with quivering hands and started.

"I actually didn't have anything planned to say, but felt I should say something. I know Ludwig's death," He had to pause to take a deep breath and steady his words."Is sudden, and quite frankly, it's still hard to believe. And even know I should be grateful for the time we had together, I still wish I had more. I know we weren't always supported as a couple, but I am extremely thankful to those who did. Thank you for encouraging me and Ludwig to be happy and to live our life's to the fullest, regardless of what others thought."

With this, he looked towards his parents."And even though it won't happen now, I'm grateful to those who agreed to help with our wedding" As he said this, his parents looked beyond shocked, not expecting to this. His grandfather just shrugged at their questioning looks, having not bothered to tell them that bit.

"I know Ludwig have thanked you guys for that too, for everything, but unfortunately he never got that chance." As Feliciano said this, tears started to form in his eyes."He really was the best man I ever had the serendipity to love. He was truly one of a kind."

As he said this he turned to step away from the center of the room, but as he did, a memory suddenly hit him. He remembered something from the party. It hit him like a 2 ton freight train. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe he didn't see it before.

The others looked worried at his sudden stop. He then turned to face them with the look of absolute loathing on his face, his eyes narrowing to Alfred murderously.

"You bastard. YOU BASTARD! You were sleeping with Ludwig! You were having an affair with my FIANCE!" With this sudden accusation, everyone turned to look towards Alfred. Alfred looked very worried and starting going pale at this reveal. Feliciano just walked towards where he was sitting, all the while he continued to go off on him.

"I remember now. I was mad at Ludwig because I caught you two together! I trusted you! I asked you to be apart of my wedding! But you went behind my back and slept with him!" Feliciano looked like he could have killed Alfred, but was held back by Antonio.

All eyes were on Alfred now."Is this true? Did you sleep with Ludwig?" Gilbert said, questioningly.

Alfred Looked around, looking some explanation to this."Alfred, please tell me this isn't true. Please tell me this is a misunderstanding." Elizabeta said.

tears formed in Alfred's eyes, knowing there was no way he could just tell them it wasn't true."See!? He's not denying it! You bitch!" Feliciano said, getting more and more upset.

Instead of saying something, Alfred looked for a way out of this. spotting the opened door, he bolted, escaping before anyone could stop him.


	11. Chapter 11

After about an hour or so of searching, the others couldn't find Alfred. They searched the entire area. They even called his family and asked if he had gone home. But Alice said he hadn't been there. Of course they didn't tell her what happened, due to the fact she would lose it if she knew he was missing

"I don't think we're gonna find him until he wants to be found." Elizabeta said, getting tired of all this searching. Her feet were killing her.

"Lucky for him. How great of him to escape what he has coming." Feliciano was still fuming. Elizabeta gave Feliciano a look that basically told him to calm himself.

"Feli, right now we need to find Alfred. We need to see if he remembers anything else. You already told us what you remembered, which in your case, doesn't look good. Trust me, we're all mad at Alfred, but right now we need answers." Elizabeta said this, not wanting to tell Feliciano how incriminating his anger was making him seem. If he was this angry when he found out at the cabin...who knows what he would have done.

At that moment, with that thought, a light went off in Elizabeta's head. The cabin. Of course.

Turning to the others, she said."Guys I think I know where Alfred might be.."

As the arrived at the cabin, Lovino rolled his eyes."Yeah, because he would totally come here. Idiots." Feliciano on the other hand, upon seeing the cabin, his anger started to dissipated, the sadness starting to come back in full force, this time a strange numbness came with it."Are you sure? I don't think so." He said, wanting to get out of this place. This place of terrible loss and terrible memories.

Elizabeta turned to him and simply said,"I'm positive. He definitely here." She said this completely serious, no doubt in her mind.

As they got to the front door of the cabin, Elizabeta didn't hesitate before throwing the door open.

Of course, Her theory was correct. Because pacing right there in the room with the look of absolute misery was Alfred. His eyes were bloodshot red and his blotchy cheeks were still wet, evident to the fact he had been crying. He had been here over an hour now. It's the first place he went to. He didn't even stop to think where he was heading until he got there.

The whole time he had been pacing and walking around the cabin, remembering the time he spent here with Ludwig. All those nights. He felt sick to the core.

He looked up to were the door was slammed open, not looking too shocked that they had found him. He just sniffled and wiped his tears before simply saying."I'm sorry."

Others looked somewhat surprised, not expecting to find him like this. They all struggled to find something to say to him, but couldn't. Except for Feliciano. Looking at him, one could tell he was still angry. The anger that had started to fade as he got here came back the moment he spotted Alfred, walking around in the same place his fiance died. The last place his fiance was alive. Alive and cheating on him.

"How dare you? How dare you say 'sorry' like it was an accident you were sleeping with Ludwig?!" As he said this, strode up to Alfred. Smack. Feliciano had slapped Alfred across the face with a loud clap, almost causing him to fall over. Alfred brought his hand to his face, shocked on how much it hurt. He would most likely have a mark there later.

"I never meant to hurt you, Feli." Alfred said solemnly. This appeared to just anger him further. "DON'T CALL ME THAT! I'm not 'Feli' to you, not anymore. And you never meant to hurt me? What, did you accidentally fall into bed with my fiance? What, was it like this,"

Feliciano's voice was full of venom, mocking Alfred. ''Opps, sorry Feliciano, I sleep with your fiance. Don't be mad or anything!" He said this, beyond rage now. Mathias finally came and dragged him away before he could do anything else.

After seeing that Feliciano was a safe 15 feet away, the others turned back to Alfred."Alfred. We have questions. Since it seems both you and Feliciano are remembering things, it's obvious this might help. We might be able to figure out what happened to Ludwig."

Alfred just looked up incredulously."Do you think I have something to do with Ludwig's death? Really?" Before anyone else could talk, Feliciano spoke up again."You probably did! You probably got jealous when you found out about our engagement and killed him off because if you can't have him, no one can!"

This statement invoked some anger in Alfred as well."No. I actually knew about your and Ludwig's engagement before hand. He texted me before the party. You know why? Because he was giving heads up so no one would find out about our AFFAIR!"

This provoked Feliciano more than ever. Mathias had to hold him back from charging straight towards Alfred."You bastard! I hope you die!"

Seeing how much his words affected him, Alfred continued."And you know what? You should know why it couldn't have been me that killed Ludwig. It was because I LOVED him! And who knows, maybe he loved ME!"

Feliciano now had angry tears forming in his eyes, his expression twisting in pain."DON'T YOU SAY THAT! Don't you dare say that! He loved me!" As Feliciano said this, his anger turned into saddness, he sunk to the floor, not feeling the will to be mad. To yell or scream at Alfred. How could Ludwig do this to him? The wasn't an ounce of will left in him. He didn't want to go on anymore.

His words turned to sobs. He just mumbled,"I hate you. I hate you so much, Alfred."

Alfred just continued."You hate me? Well isn't that a clue. That sounds like something a killer would say. In fact, I bet you're the killer! Who other than a murderer would get as angry as you? What did I expect? Its always the nice ones. I bet you lost like you did now when you found out and as a result, you killed your fiance! Wouldn't that explain why you had the bookend?" As Alfred said this, he strolled over to the armoire.

"And you even tried to cover it up! By putting your dead boyfriend in this here armoire!" As he said this, he threw the armoire door open dramatically.

But as everyone who was watching this display saw the inside of the armoire, they gasped in shock simultaneously.

Worried by their expressions, Alfred turned to look in the armoire. Upon looking inside, he fell back in horror.

There was a mirror on the inner armoire door. Something they hadn't noticed before. But it wasn't the mirror that shocked them. It was what was on the mirror.

For on the mirror, written in bright red lipstick, was the words,"I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED HERE."


	12. Chapter 12

Everyone was horrified by the message in the mirror.

Gilbert was the first to speak up."Wha-what the hell? Who wrote this?"

No one could come with a comprehensible response."What does it mean? Was someone else here on Valentines day?" Mathias said, trying to make sense of this.

"Someone must have been. Someone was watching us then. They were the one to kill Ludwig." Antonio said this, no doubt in his mind.

Elizabeta nodded in agreement."That would mean it most likely wasn't any of us who did it. The message wasn't there before. They would have written it while none of us were here."

Feliciano then piped up, an edge to his voice."But wasn't Alfred here? He could have written it before we arrived."

"Hey! Stop trying to blame me because you're bitter! Why would I have written it just to expose it and make myself look guilty?" Alfred said, defensive again.

Feliciano opened his mouth to retort but was cut of when Gilbert spoke up again."Hey, no fighting now. You two can duke this all out later. We have other things to worry about now." Gilbert said this, trying to be neutral. It was obvious he didn't want his two friends to get into another fight, even though he wouldn't blame Feliciano for being angry with Alfred.

"He's right. We need to figure this out now. And we don't know who wrote this. I doubt it was Alfred, too convenient. Who ever wrote this might have been trying to frame Alfred. But then again, we can't fully say anyone is innocent. Until we know for sure who is responsible, everyone is a suspect. But I really think it was someone outside this group." Elizabeta said in agreement with Gilbert.

"Okay, but until we figure out who did this, what are we gonna do with the message? Are just gonna leave it here for someone else to find?" Kiku asked.

Thinking about this, Elizabeta responded with,"Hmm. You're right. We can't just leave this here. But who would write in lipstick?" As she said this, she grabbed a rag from the kitchen.

She then proceeded to wipe the enigmatic and chilling message away, so no one else would discover it.

"If it's written in lipstick, is safe to assume the killer is a chick?" Gilbert asked, curious.

"No, I don't think it a good a idea to assume it is a female. For all we know, they could have used lipstick just to throw us off." Elizabeta said this before turning around and continuing,"And I also think it's a good idea to leave now. It's gonna get dark soon and I don't want to be in this cabin at night."

The others nodded in agreement, but as they turned to leave, Kiku stopped Alfred."Hey, Alfred? I don't wish to be a bother, but are you going to be okay?"

Alfred smiled weakly at this,"I think so..I'm just gonna go home and see my parents before they leave for their trip tonight."

Kiku looked worried at this."Are you going to just be alone? That doesn't sound safe.."

"Oh, no. Leon gonna be home. And besides, no one is gonna try anything at my house. We're Kirklands and we have security." Alfred said this with confidence. Of course his family had security. Any rich, powerful family would. Its not like someone could get past it.

Kiku just nodded, assured at this statement.

-Later

Someone was currently watching a particular couple through a window, having gotten onto the grounds without the security detecting anything.

Alice was currently packing for her and Francis's flight, not noticing the figure in the dark window. They would be arriving in southern america the next morning. They would be going to a fancy resort in Brazil. She hoped Alfred would be okay on his own. He had come home a few hours ago and didn't appear to be in the best of states.

She tried to see what was wrong, but he said he didn't want to talk about it. Not wanting to be over bearing, she didn't push him on it. She use to very over bearing of her son, always getting on his case and what not. This eventually lead to a huge fight between them and a rift for a little while. Surprisingly, Francis took Alfred's side, Telling her on how he was almost grown up and how a boy needed his freedom. After that, she made an effort to give Alfred his own space and freedom.

She was also expecting a call from the Dna lab any day now. She hoped the results came back in her favor.

Francis was in the other room, packing, when Alice's phone began to ring. With out hesitation, he picked it up and answered it."Hello?"

The voice was that of a unfamiliar female."Hello, This is doctor Heinz. Is Alice Kirkland home?" Francis was a little taken back with this request. Who was this person?

"Uh, yes, she is." Stepping a bit back from the phone, Francis called into the other room. "Mon cher, there is a doctor Heinz who wish's to speak with you."

At this, Alice paled. But then, she got a grip on herself before coming into the room and taking the phone, a forced smile on her face. Stepping away a bit so Francis wouldn't hear the other line, she put the phone to her ear."Hello?" She said timidly.

"Alice, I just wanted to inform you that your results are almost ready and that you should expect them in the next 48 hours. I wanted to call you to give you a heads up, In case they don't come back in the way you hope."

Alice nodded at this, mostly for Francis's benefit, who was standing on the other end of the room, undoubtedly watching somewhat suspiciously. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know. Just call me with the results later." Alice said this a neutral as she could, trying to not say to much in the presence of Francis.

After hanging up, Francis said,"So who was that?" He said it casually.

"Um. No one. It was nothing." Alice said quickly. This seemed to raise Francis's suspicion higher."Then what was the talk of results? Are you keeping something from me? Oh I'm so wounded." Francis acted hurt in his typical dramatic zest.

Looking down and sighing, Alice lied and said,"Fine, If you must know. I was just on the phone with my Ob-Gyn."She said this in false embarrassment.

This took any looks of doubt from Francis's face. She was half hoping from him to drop it after that, but knowing her husband, he didn't."Oh Mon cher, you shouldn't be ashamed of that!"

Alice rolled her eyes."I'm not, can you drop it now? We still got packing to do."

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to either of them, the shadowy figure that had been watching them though the window for the past few minutes left.

Once a good distance away, the person took out their phone and said."Yes, they're leaving now. And no, Alfred didn't tell them anything." The person on the other line chuckled and said,"Good. Two less people you have to deal with."


	13. Chapter 13

A few days later Lovino, Antonio, Mathias, Kiku and Feli were at the coffee house. They were, at the moment, waiting for Elizabeta and Gilbert to met them there.

The had all gotten a call earlier that morning from Antonio, saying he think he might have found a way to salvage some of the files on the laptop. He still hadn't been able to do it, but he was currently working on it and claimed to be very close to cracking it.

Of course, Gilbert strode in soon enough. Although they were quick to notice that Elizabeta wasn't with him. This was very odd, due to the fact they were dating and they lived with each other.

"Hey Gil, where's Liz at? I told you both to come." Antonio said, actually bothering to look up from the laptop for once.

Gilbert just sighed."She wasn't feeling well..She's been throwing up all morning. I was worried about her, but she says she must have caught that bug that's been going around." Gilbert tried to not looked to bothered but he was clearly worried.

Mathias winched at this."God, that's gotta suck. I hope she's feeling better soon." It was a little known fact that sickness and illness was one of the few things that bugged Mathias, although he adamantly denied it.

Gilbert opened his mouth to ask Antonio on his progress with the laptop, but after looking around he noticed something."Hey guys, where's Alfred? didn't you tell him about the laptop too?" He just noticed Alfred was not among them.

Without looking up, Antonio simply said,"I didn't invite him here. I'll tell him about the laptop later, but right now I definitely don't need any more fighting between Al and Feli."

Feliciano seemed a bit annoyed at the mention of Alfred, but he keep his composure, not wanting to lose his temper again. A temper he didn't even really knew he had until recently.

Gilbert looked like he was about to ask another question but was interrupted when Antonio suddenly jumped up and said,"I got it! I was able to recover a little bit of another video."

Quickly, the other gathered around Antonio as the video was started.

It was Ludwig again. He was sitting in the living room. The date confirmed it was from about a week before valentines day. He looked nervous, but not quite the same way as before. He looked at the camera with a sorrowful and saddened look.

"Feliciano, if you are watching this, then I assume you found out..I'm sorry. The day I'm recording this is actually the day I proposed..I did it because I love you. But I guess that doesn't matter if you're watching this. You probably hate me. Not that I blame you. But I want you know to know that you're the best thing that ever happened to me. If I messed up what we had, then I am the biggest idiot to live. If you're wondering why I made this video, just to expose myself further, It's because I don't know how Alfred is gonna react when I tell him our affair is over. And to Alfred, I should apologize to you too. For getting involved with you in the first place. I'm sorry everyone."

With this finishing statement, the video went static, indicating it was over.

One look at Feliciano and you could see how much he was hurting. Tears sprung into his eyes and that same face of pain and loss that was present at the cabin was back.

All the anger and resentment was gone, just his expression of true sadness, He never looked so fragile as he did then. As if one more thing, one more moment of sorrow would shatter him.

Before anyone could say anything or do anything, Feliciano turned and dashed out the door. No one bothered to stop him. They knew he would want to be alone.

Antonio sighed and closed the laptop."I was hoping that would give us some answers. Now we just have a distraught Italian running around. This is becoming pointless."

"Whats becoming pointless?" They turned to see as Vash walked up to the table where they were sitting.

Antonio quickly came up with a flawless lie."Oh, trying to comfort Feliciano through this difficult time. He's not handling it well." Antonio lied through his teeth, not a single crack in his facade.

Vash rolled his eyes."Yeah, I could tell. He almost ran into me on his way out." He said this, obviously annoyed.

Trying to change the subject, Antonio said,"So what are you doing here? Don't you have important detective duties to attend to?'' this question, along with the way Antonio said it, just raised vash's suspicion.

"I could ask you the same, but then I realized you guys probably don't have important jobs or responsibilities of your own to worry about. I'm here because I just dropped Lili off at school and I need coffee before work." He said, his voice condescending.

Gilbert then casually said,"Well, we best be going now. You guys should see if Feli is okay. I'm going back home to be with Liz."

After they had gotten up and left the building, Vash just rolled his eyes."They're not nearly as sneaky as they think."

Feliciano had driven home in a almost blind rage. He didn't care about anyone or anything at the moment. He planned to drive until he had calmed himself down, but without thinking, he had driven home. Not really caring, he went inside.

Once inside, he actually regretted coming here. This was his and Ludwig's home. The place they moved into together and made their own. It had bits and pieces of Ludwig everywhere. In the sophisticated yet quirky style of furniture they had picked out together. The place even still smelled of Ludwig's cologne.

Pictures of Ludwig and Felicanio were hung all over the walls. He was starting to think of leaving and never coming back to this place.

But then, Feliciano spotted the mantle. For sitting on the mantle was a glass shaped heart. It had been Ludwig's anniversary gift to him last year. He told Feliciano how it showed how much he had Ludwig's heart and how fragile Ludwig's heart was in his hands. Who was he to speak of fragile hearts?

Making his way to this glass trinket, Feliciano remembered every loving thing Ludwig ever said to him. He wondered if they were all lies.

As he shakingly pick it up, he examined it closely. He realized how he never actually really looked at it.

It was just glass. Cheap, cheap glass. Apparently just As common as cheap words and fake 'I love you's.

After taking another moment to look at it, he hesitated slightly then promptly he threw it to the hard marble ground, watching as it shattered into a million pieces.

This seemed to release some of the pent up anger in Feliciano. Or maybe it made him angrier. He didn't know nor care, for the next thing he found himself doing was taking all the pictures on the mantle and shattering them too. Breaking them, throwing them and even punching them until his knuckles bleed.

He broke vases, figurines and many other items until the was nothing left to break. Glass was everywhere and countless valuables were destroyed. Once he was out of stuff to shatter, he let himself fall to the ground and he curled up into a ball and let himself cry. He didn't care that he was surrounded by glass, because in reality, he was just as broken.

-Else where

Gilbert had finally arrived home and, to his surprise, Elizabeta was feeling much better. Gilbert had filled her in on what she missed, from them getting some footage from Ludwig's laptop to Vash showing up.

Elizabeta was surprise at the fact he was there. During the time they worked together at the station, she never knew him to be a coffee drinker. This just showed he was probably suspicious of them.

They were currently cuddling on the couch and watching tv, trying to forget about the problems surrounding them.

Elizabeta turned to Gilbert and said,"Hey, do you think they found Feli yet? I'm starting to worry about him.."

"I don't know. They probably have. Feli is a lot of things, but a good hider isn't one of them...but he can run like hell...I think he's fine. I'm kinda worried he's gonna run into Alfred though." That wouldn't be good, for either of them.

"Yeah, but I don't think you gotta worry about that. Alfred's most likely at his home, I heard his parents left for south America and I guess he's in charge. But then again, everyone knows that younger brother of his doesn't need any parental guidance. I think we should call one of the others to try and get the 411 on situation." Elizabeta said this, reaching for her phone.

As she tried to turn it on,it was of course, dead."Oh, great." she rolled her eyes.

Gilbert chuckled at this."Its okay babe, we'll just use mine." as he said this, he pulled out his own phone and turned it. As he was entering his password, he noticed the date.

"Wow, it's the 23rd. Gilbirds birthday is in a few days." Gilbert said, taking note of the date for the first time.

Gilbert expected Elizabeta to roll her eyes at this or make some snarky comment, but instead she looked at him with a very alarmed expression."The 23rd? Its the 23rd?" She asked incredulous.

Gilbert was confused and quite frankly, getting worried."Yeah? Its the 23rd of February. Whats the problem?"

She just shook her head as she started counting off on her fingers, trying to piece something together. This really began frighten Gilbert.

"Okay liz, I'm getting really scared now. Whats going on?"

He didn't get a response as Elizabeta got up and ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

All that Gilbert could hear coming from the bathroom was the opening and closing of cabinets and shuffling around. He came up and knocked on the door."Liz, can you please tell me whats going on? I'm getting very worried right. Please just tell me." He called through the door.

Through the door, he could Elizabeta sigh before she pulled the door open and peaked her head out. Her expression was one that Gilbert never seen before. Scared and worried but also...excited?

She opened her mouth and said in neutral tone,"Gilbert, I'm late."


End file.
